


Sleeping With The Devil

by LDaniels



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2018-12-31 03:52:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12123930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LDaniels/pseuds/LDaniels
Summary: After a night spent parading around like royalty at the fall gala, Ali finds herself charmed and enchanted by a woman (Ashlyn Harris) who seems to have nothing but secrets hidden under her skin. Still, the mystery of her is enough to set the hook and soon she finds herself in her presence and not long after, in her bed. It won't be long until she finds out she's sleeping with the devil.Vampire AU.(I was really feeling the halloween season in my bones so)





	1. The Gala

**Author's Note:**

> This is honestly just a product of being way too excited for halloween and binge watching all 3 seasons of Hemlock Grove in 4 days. So, there's that. Anyway, I hope you guys like!

“Ali,” Emily called back the hallway to her best friend as the clock quickly began racing against them. “we’re going to be late! It’s the first gala of the year, we need to go!”

Ali put the finishing touches on her lipstick and did one last sweep of mascara in the mirror before hastily turning and blindly putting in her earrings.

“I’m coming! We’re okay, I’m ready!” Ali wasn’t very convincing seeing as how she said this as she aimlessly looked for her shoes. “Have you seen my heels?”

“Ali!”

Ali slide across the floor to the closet on her ballerina socks and swung open the door, hopeful to see her missing shoes. “Ah! I found them!”

“Fantastic. Now move your ass! We cannot be late!”

“Alright, alright!” Ali quickly slipped on her shoes and they were out the door where the company car was waiting for them.

Tonight is the first Fall Fashion Gala of the year, and for Ali, being very new as a professional in the world of fashion, her appearance wasn’t exactly important to anyone really, but it was paramount to her future in the industry. As a favor, her advisor had given her an invitation, more so for the experience than anything. Fashion is all about show, and to make it you have to be bold, you have to stand out and take risks; this was not Ali’s strong suit. As a homegrown kid from a wealthy family, she was very prim and proper, pressed and polished, and although there is plenty of classic chic designers, that’s just it- they already have that, and in excess. But, aside from her look, she did have something that did seem to catch the eye- she was beautiful.

Just a little after 7pm, Ali and Emily’s car pulled up to the entrance. Before the driver even had time to get out to open their door, Ali already wanted to leave. She peered out the deeply tinted windows of their Lincoln town car and saw the dark red carpet lined with photographers who were already taking so many pictures that they looked more like a sea of exploding firecrackers and instantly felt the pit in her stomach dig itself deeper.

“Oh boy, Em…I don’t know if I can do this.” Ali watched as the driver made his way around the back of the car and to her door when Emily took her by shoulders.

“Ali. We are going to have fun. Remember when we used to have runway shows in my parent’s basement, just pretend your there. It’s no different, alright?” Ali quietly nodded her head at the words of encouragement. “This is important, and you look stunning so let’s rock this!”

The car door opened and as Ali swung her legs out and stood, for a brief second there wasn’t a single flash as everyone stopped and peered up from their cameras to look at her, and in that fraction of a second, I swear you could have heard a pin drop. The red silk fabric of her dress looked effortlessly placed upon her shoulders and fell elegantly behind her. Just as quickly as it stopped, the flashes started going off again as she took her first steps. Everyone was screaming directions and yelling other incomprehensible things and she figured it was best to try and block it out and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other and not getting caught up in her dress. After what felt like a lifetime, finally, she reached the end of the carpet where she was greeted by quite possibly the largest man she had ever seen and was lead into the palace through a set of heavy glass doors. If she thought outside was terrifying, inside was even worse. Ali had never seen so many people in one place. But as terrifying as it was, it was also truly a sight to see. The dresses, the fabrics, the suits and the colors, it was brilliant. She almost felt childish, looking at everyone in their designer garments like they were candy in a candy store. She then was brought back to reality when she realized she did in fact come with someone. Ali turned around and anxiously looked to see Emily behind her, but she wasn’t there.

_Now she really wanted to throw up._

Afraid to be caught in the ever-changing tide of people, she shimmied my way over to the far wall and made an effort to reach the ballroom without being stopped for anymore pictures or, dare she say it, an interview. She could nearly taste the complimentary mint setting at her table when she felt a tap on her shoulder and sure enough she turned to find a camera and at least half a dozen microphones.

“Can you tell us who you’re wearing tonight?”

The man who spoke was rather tall and lanky. She's never met Ryan Secrest, but Ali was almost positive that it was him.

“Ummm, I’m wearing a Christian Dior gown and my favorite Jimmy Choo’s.”

“Fabulous. I must say, you look absolutely stunning in that dress!”

“Thank you so much, that’s very sweet.”

“And I don’t see any charming young man trailing close behind, did you come here alone?”

The way he asked me this question almost sounded like he was hoping I’d say yes.

“No, actually, I came with one of my best friends that I grew up with.”

“Awe, isn’t that sweet. I love that. Alright hun, enjoy the rest of your night.”

“You too, thank you!”

If there’s anything Ali hated more than getting her picture taken by strangers, it was getting asked questions and getting generic compliments from them. But hey, it’s all part of the experience, right?

She found her table in the ballroom and sat promptly in the seat designated by a name card. She felt the most wonderful rush of relief when she saw Emily appear and looked over to find her name on the card next to her.

“Oh, Jesus. I am so happy to see you.” Ali said as she sat down and set her clutch down in front of her.

“It’s a circus out there!”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Ali sat back in her chair and waved over the man holding the campaign tray.

“Sorry it took me so long to catch up, I got stopped by four different people wanting to know all about what I was wearing ooo ooo.”

The waiter came over and handed them each a glass and proceeded on to be flagged down by more desperate-eyed attendees.

“Four? I got stopped by one and I nearly had an aneurism.”

“Well, we’re safe now.”

“I’ll drink to that, cheers.”

Just as they threw back the remaining contents of our glasses, a rather obnoxious clinking began to ring throughout the ballroom. Standing up on the small stage was a woman she knows that she recognizes, but can’t quite come to terms from where. With 6 plus years of schooling on fashion and design, She’s certain her face came up at least once. The woman rambled on for at least fifteen minutes going through the introduction of why they were all there and the whole thing when finally she turned with her far hand outstretched as if to be introducing someone but between all the clapping and surrounding side-conversations, Ali didn’t make out what she said.

“What’s happening? Who is she introducing?” Ali asked, leaning over to Emily who, she had hoped was paying a bit more attention than her.

“Ashlyn Harris.”

That name caught in Ali’s mind, but nothing came of it. She had no idea who this woman was.

“Ashlyn Harris? Who is that?” Emily just shrugged her shoulders.

“I have no idea, but she must be something, look at all these people.” Emily reached for her clutch and removed her phone. “Here, let’s see what google knows about her.”

Ali scooted her chair over closer as Emily typed in the name. Immediately upon hitting the search button, thousands of articles pulled up. Articles about her career, about how she reinvented fashion with her unmatchable eye for design and character. Then there were articles about her family. Apparently after her father’s recent passing and her mother’s strange disappearance, the family’s entire inheritance was handed over to her and her brother. The two of them now living in the family’s 200-acre manor and owners of the family’s companies. The Harris’ not only owned the design studio, but the steel mill, the town library, half the banks, and even the old printing press building. All hers.

“Both her parents are out of the picture and now her and her brother hold the keys to the kingdom. Sounds like a rich bitch to me. They probably killed them.”

“The only thing worse than that is by killing her parents that would make her more interesting.”

Ali and Emily both shared a laugh about the dark joke. It was strange though. Both parents, within a year, gone. But that wasn’t even the strangest thing. When Emily clicked on the images button, there was nothing. Not a single picture, not even attached to the articles.

“Weird..” Emily said. “There’s not a single picture of her on here. How can google not have a picture of her. Google even has a picture of me and I’m a nobody!”

“Really? There’s not even one?”

“No! There’s nothing.” Emily went back to the articles and scanned through it again. “Who is this chick?”

The clapping grew louder and there were even a few whistles as Ashlyn must have been coming into view, but from where they were sitting, they couldn’t see anything. Suddenly she came into view as she started up the small set of steps at the end of the stage and what they saw was certainly not anything like they were expecting. They were expecting a real snobby looking woman, mid-twenties, probably in a Prada skirt suit or a dress that was two sizes too small, but this woman was in a suit. A very well-tailored suit I may add. It was a deep black color with the faintest appearance of a floral design with softer pinks and blues and greens. And she was young looking, but certainly not mid-twenties. And her hair was short and clean cut, slicked back. Her cheekbones looked as if they were carved out of marble and her jawline was sharper than any knife on their table.

“Oh wow. She’s kinda hot.” Emily said.

As Ashlyn walked across the stage, there was a shift in Ali’s body. For whatever reason, she didn’t know what it was, but looking at her, there was something very attractive; alluring and inviting. She felt her checks run hot and her palms began to sweat. Her bodies reaction was always fearsome, as if Ali was afraid of her.

“I’d let her take me home.”

“Emily!” Ali said quickly giving her a light smack in the arm.

“I’m serious! Look at her! My god, she wears a suit better than any of the guys in here, I don’t even care that she probably killed her parents.”

She just laughed. She was right though. She wore the hell out of that suit. Ali felt her mind drift as she spoke. Honestly, she didn’t hear a word of anything Ashlyn said, she was too captivated. Have you ever looked at someone and instantly wanted to know every intimate detail there was to know about them? Looking at her, that’s how Ali felt. She wanted those answers and she really didn’t know why.

An hour or two later, they finally released them to go to the bar or go for more pictures and interviews, or for the other more disinterested and anxious people, leave. She wasn’t sure where she fell at this point, but knew she wasn’t going to allow herself to leave without at least getting another look at this woman.

“You ready to go?” Emily asked.

“Not yet. I’m just going to do a walk through one last time.”

“Okay, well I’m going to go grab a drink at the bar.”

“Alright. I’ll see you.”

Ali began cutting a path through the crowd, she started to rethink the idea and came to the conclusion that she should’ve taken the perimeter route but she was quite literally in too deep to turn back now. She studied the faces she passed by, but one after the other she was disappointed to find everyone’s but Ashlyn’s. She was just about to give up when she saw a figure making it’s way down the staircase of the far wall. The dark floral suit cut an impressive silhouette against the glass. Then something happened. Somehow, out of the hundreds of eyes in the room, Ashlyn found Ali’s as she stood, frozen in crowd. They moved around her like she was a rock cutting through a current, and Ashlyn watched her with every step she took until they were standing on the same level ground and slowly but surely, she made her way towards her.

Ali’s heart began to race and she felt her palms go sweaty again and her brain was screaming at her legs to turn around and run but she couldn’t. She saw Emily sitting at the bar behind her and each time her heart beat she looked to be further and further away. She stood, petrified in her own skin, a prisoner in her own body.

She moved like a ghost, floating across the floor as if to be completely weightless on her feet. Ali could smell her cologne as Ashlyn was now just an arm’s length away.

“Although I am one for flattery, I do hope that I am not the first to tell you that you look absolutely ravishing in that dress.” Ashlyn’s voice sent a surprising wave of relief through Ali’s body as she spoke. It was a low but soft sound. Suddenly her fear shifted into something else; hunger. She couldn’t help but smile at the compliment, and even though she had been told the same thing by many people tonight, it only mattered to her now.

“Thank you. But I think it’s you who takes home the award for best dressed tonight.”

Ashlyn’s lips parted to reveal the most electric smile Ali had ever seen and she felt her heart trip in her chest. But still, just as enamored as she was with this woman, she couldn’t understand why. Ali had never been so intrigued by a woman, let alone been attracted to one. It felt wrong, almost.

 _Almost_.

“Would you like to get a drink with me?”

The resounding ‘No’ in her head was nearly deafening but still her mouth thought otherwise.

“Sure.”

Ashlyn took a couple steps forward and lifted her elbow for Ali to take as she led them through the crowd and to the bar. Ali couldn’t help but notice the wandering eyes and craning necks as she passed by them on Ashlyn’s arm. She didn’t know them any more than they knew her and yet she could see the jealously in their stares, and she liked it.

As they reached the bar, Ashlyn pulled out Ali’s chair for her and made sure she was set before taking a seat herself. Seeing as how Ali hasn’t been in a relationship since high school, this was a gesture very foreign to her, but she didn’t allow herself to give it much thought.

“I’ll have a whiskey, straight.” Ashlyn looked over at Ali, watching as she thought about what she wanted to drink. “And a gin and tonic for my friend.”

Ali was in disbelief, looking at Ashlyn.

“How did you know that?”

Ali never orders that on the regular, but just as the thought crossed her mind, it came out of Ashlyn’s mouth.

“Lucky guess.” Ashlyn took a sip of her whiskey before giving her a quick wink. Ali just smiled, still, completely enchanted.

They began talking about the party and why Ali was there and how she got into fashion and as it always does, one drink turned into two and two turned into 6 and soon it was nearly midnight.

Just as the alcohol began to hit Ali’s system, she saw Emily making her way over to them. However blurry her figure may have been to Ali, she could see the discomfort on her face.

“Hey Al, it’s getting late. We should get going.”

Emily didn’t want Ali to make a fool of herself or even worse, do something she would regret in the morning, and she could see that with the amount of alcohol see’s had that that is most likely where this night is going.

“No, no, I’m not ready to go. Ashlyn and I are talking. It’s fine.” Ali wasn’t yet drunk enough to slur her words but she still wasn’t all that convincing to Emily.

“Ali, you’ve had a lot to drink.”

“I’m fine. Do I not sound fine to you? I’m staying.”

“Ali-“

“She said she wants to stay, let her stay.” Ashlyn turned to Emily and locked eyes with her. “Come on, let her stay. I’ll make sure she gets home safely.” Her voice was smooth and calm; sweet. But looking at her, Emily somehow lost all form of judgement and discretion. Like she didn’t have control over her own mind. “Go.”

“I’m going to go.” Emily said, not even believing she was saying it. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Emily turned and walked away, leaving Ashlyn and Ali at the bar. Ashlyn peered over her shoulder and saw that nearly the entire attendance was gone, only a few people remained in the ballroom.

“Another.” Ashlyn said flagging the bartender.

"Hey, your nose is bleeding..." Ali lifted a finger to her own nose in gesture as the thick red fluid dripped from her nose. "Are you okay?"

Ashlyn quickly removed a small white cloth from her jacket pocket and wiped her nose. Ali was a bit unsettled by how unconcerned Ashlyn seemed to be.

"Yes. I'm fine." The bartender set the glass down and in one quick shot, Ashlyn threw it back and stood from her chair. Having now seven whiskeys, seemed totally unaffected by the alcohol. “Alright, let’s get you home.” She wrapped her arm around Ali’s waist and helped her down from her chair. She glanced up for just a moment and caught the bartender’s eye. He looked her with a stone eyes and soon looked away, as if to say ‘you don't fool me’.

They made their way out the doors and just before they reached the end, their car pulled up. Or should I say Ashlyn’s car pulled up. It was an Aston Martin DB10. It was a brushed silver with aluminum wheels. For a 300,000 dollar car, it spared no luxury.

“This is your car?” It was more of a baffled realization than a question as it left Ali’s lips.

“Yeah. A birthday gift from my brother.” Ashlyn brought Ali to the passenger side and opened the door.

“My brother got me a cactus once for my birthday.” Ashlyn just laughed as she help Ali into the car before walking around and getting in beside her.

Ashlyn drove down the narrow drive and pulled out onto the street.

“So where to?” Ashlyn asked.

“Home.”

“Well yes, I figured as much, but where do you live?”

“No.” Ali said and Ashlyn quickly looked over to her.

‘What do you mean ‘no’?

“I want you to take me home…with you.” Ali may have had a few drinks but she was coherent enough to make her own decisions, and whatever this feeling was, this hunger she felt when she was around Ashlyn, she wanted it to go away. And there was only one way that was going to happen.

Ashlyn looked out at the road ahead of her and a smile crept across her lips.

“As you wish.”

As the night went on, the marked roads soon turned into unmarked roads and the unmarked roads turned into just dirt paths. Ali’s fear began to creep up her throat again and she was beginning to think of how terrible of an idea this was. She still had not a clue about this person setting beside her. For all she knew, jokes aside, she could have killed her parents. And driving down this dirt road now, she thinks this is it. This is how she’s going to die. Being charmed by a mysterious stranger who is a millionaire and beautiful and drives an expensive car that is now certainly driving them both in the middle of the woods where Ashlyn is going to kill her and chop her up into a million little pieces and scatter them amongst the fallen leaves to be eaten by wolves.

Or at least, that’s what was running through her head.

As she looked ahead she could see that there was a break in the trees ahead, there was a clearing at the end of the road.  Once the last tree had past and they broke through the dense wood line, Ali’s fear had again quickly faded away as they were now driving up a curvy, but smoothly paved road that lead up to a tall iron gate. Behind the gate, probably visible for miles in the daylight, was a giant stone mansion that, if she hadn’t known better, she would have called a castle.

Ashlyn pulled the car up to the front doors where a man was waiting to park the car. Ashlyn got out and handed the man they keys as she walked around to Ali, who had been let out by the doorman.

“This is incredible.” Ali said, looking up the vast walls of the mansion.

“You should have seen it when it was first built. What’s incredible is that it still looks as it did back then.” Ashlyn turned her attention away from the house and extended her hand to Ali. “Come in.”

Ali stood just inside the door, taking it all in when she heard the door close behind her. She could feel Ashlyn come behind her. She was so close that she could feel her breath against her neck and it sent shivers through her body. Ashlyn lightly placed a warm kiss on her neck and Ali could feel herself slipping.

“It’s getting late….” Ali was losing herself under the touch of Ashlyn’s lips. “We should…” Ashlyn’s hand slowing began to make it’s way up Ali’s leg and under her dress and just like that, every bit of control she had left was gone. “What am I doing-“ Ali softly breathed out as she turned in Ashlyn’s arms and found her lips.

What was slow and soft quickly became fast and hungry and Ashlyn had her up against the wall before she could even comprehend what was happening.

 


	2. Memory Loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the support so far. Next three chapters are already written. Doing the research and developing the mythology for this has been the most fun. Expect a new update Thursday at midnight. I plan on updating every other day from now on. This story is just coming to me all at once. Love you guys.

She could feel the body against hers; the warmth. She could feel her hands; her fingers inside of her. Her back was pressed hard against the wall and she had a handful of Ashlyn’s shirt in her hand. Squeezing it so tightly that her own nails threatened to draw blood on her palm. She could feel her heart beating. She could feel it in her neck, in her chest; she could feel it between her legs. Suddenly she felt her back come free of the wall and as her head fell back, she watched as the ceiling moved. She could tell that they were now on a staircase from the unmistakable movement of the body beneath hers. With her head still back, she watched as they passed through a threshold and not long after she found herself falling onto a cool set of sheets. She tilted her head forward, watching the figure before her, strip itself of its clothes and as she leaned her head back onto the pillow, the figure’s mouth had rested itself between her legs.

\---

When Ali woke up, she was alone. Her head was spinning and her body ached. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was and what had happened just a few hours before. As she looked up at the ceiling, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Just above the bed, mounted on the wall was what looked to be a needle. It looked very similar to the spike on the antique spinning wheel that her grandmother kept in the basement. She couldn’t understand why something like that would be mounted above a bed though. She sat up in the dark satin sheets and studied the room she was in. It was a bedroom, but she wasn’t eager to jumping to the conclusion that it was Ashlyn’s room. With a house this big, there’s certainly at least a dozen bedrooms. It was a strange room though. There were no pictures, or dressers. No lamp, not even a bedside table. It was simply a room with a bed and a wall to wall window that was covered with a twin curtain. With her clothes nowhere to be found, she stood up and wrapped the soft fabric around her shoulders as she padded across the floor to the door.

She peered around the corners on both sides before stepping into the hallway. ‘ _Where is everyone_?’ she thought. Finally, at the end of the hall she reached the top of a staircase. At first impression, the house, however much it looked like a castle on the outside, looked more like an updated, more modern mansion on the inside. Leaning over the railing to the floor below, she could hear movement. Halfway down the stairs she could smell the unmistakable smell of bacon and eggs.

“Good morning.” Ashlyn said as she saw Ali come into the kitchen. “I hope you’re hungry.”

Ashlyn was standing behind the stove, naked from the waste up, wearing only a pair of linen pajama pants. At first, she didn’t know what to say. She was still trying to make sense of everything and the sight of Ashlyn topless sort of brought everything full circle into rejogging her memory, but still, the whole night seemed so blurry. Ali would have been fine with just slipping out the door and vanishing, but she wanted some answers…and she was hungry.

“Yeah, I’m starving. How long have you been up?”

“Awhile.” Ashlyn answered simply as she transferred the eggs from the pan to the plate. “I had some cleaning up to do.”

Ali thought that to be an odd, but ignored it. She took a seat atop one of the stools at the island and Ashlyn placed the plate in front of her. Immediately, Ali began scarfing down the breakfast.

“You were hungry?” Ashlyn said as Ali scooped the last bit of egg into her mouth, cleaning off the plate.

Ali sat up and placed the fork onto the plate, meeting Ashlyn’s eyes, really, for the first time since she had woken up. She had a million thoughts running through her head; questions. But she wasn’t doing it here, not while they were both practically still naked.

“I think I’m going to get a shower.” Ali said.

“Of course.”

Ali sat and waited for Ashlyn to tell her where the bathroom was and smiled when she still didn’t seem to get the hint from the silence.

“Oh, right. My apologies.” Ashlyn said. “The bathroom, it’s just up those stairs and the last door on the right at the end of the hall. Towels and everything are on the shelf beside the sink.” Ashlyn came out from behind the counter and slowly began walking into the adjacent room. “If you need anything, just ask Diane or Norman, I’ll be down here.”

Ali simply nodded her head and headed back up the stairs. Ali didn’t know how to take Ashlyn. She couldn’t tell if she was acting strange or if that’s just how she was.

For being a family manor that, according to Ashlyn, has been around for quite some time, just like the strange bedroom, the walls around the staircase bear no pictures, no family portraits. The hallways were the same. However, the hallway upstairs did have a few hanging paintings. Most were pretty abstract and depicted rather disturbing and distorted images of people. Which, after seeing the rest of the house, fit in rather well. Halfway down the hall, an older gentleman came out from one of the side rooms, Norman, she guessed. He was dressed in a suit and had a soft smile when he looked at her. Ali said hello to him but he just smiled and continued on. Just mustn’t be much of a talker she thought. As she nearly reached the last door, she noticed the door across the way from the bathroom was ajar. She contemplated it for a moment as she stood in the middle of hall. But, just as everything else, her curiosity got the best of her and she quickly looked down the hallway for anyone watching before she pushed open the already cracked door.

The room was nothing like the others by the means of it not being bare at all, but quite the opposite. The room was filled with things. Old trunks and books stacked on top of each other, strewn pieces of parchment littered the floor. All along the back wall was a bookcase that was so filled that there mustn’t been a single open slot. Ali walked over to one of the trunks and knelt down in front of it. There was a lock placed on the front of it, but to her fortune, was not latched. She removed the lock from the small steel loop and lifted the lid. Inside the trunk were more books. She picked up one of them and it was so dusty and caked in dirt that she couldn’t read the cover without giving it a good scrape with her fingernail. Embossed into the dark brown leather was what she was assuming was the title and a brief subtitle beneath it ** _. Upíra, ďábel mezi námi_** , it was very obviously in another language and at first glance it sort of looked familiar. However, Ali was completely none the wiser as to what it said, so she put it back without giving it a second thought.

She turned her attention to what looked to be a canvas bag setting on the opposite side of the trunk. She lifted the thick fabric and saw something very peculiar setting inside of it. It was a chain. She reached inside and pulled one of the ends out and saw that there was a metal cuff there. As she turned it over in her hand she noticed the dark red stain it was leaving on her hand. She dropped the chain and stood as the heavy metal fell to the old wooden floor with a thud. It was covered in blood.  She stumbled back a few feet in terror. As she looked around the room she noticed another door in the back corner of the room. It was different door than all the others. It was a heavy metal and had a padlock the size of her grapefruit on it. She was just about to step closer when she heard someone coming from back the hall. She quickly shut the trunk lid and left the room.

In the bathroom, Ali made haste to the sink, scrubbing the blood from her hands in a disturbed panic. When she looked up, she was surprised to not find her reflection. There was no mirror on the wall. That was strange she thought; everyone has a mirror above the bathroom sink.

Ali shed the bedsheet from her shoulders. She could still feel that her body was aching, her back especially, but without a mirror, seeing what was causing all the fuss was nearly impossible. She desperately tried to look over her shoulder at her back and just as she did, she noticed a figure standing in the doorway. It was an older woman, Diane, the housekeeper. Diane looked at the naked brunette and her eyes welled with sadness and fear. Ali was confused, but what she couldn’t see, Diane could. The skin on Ali’s back was bruised black and scratched so deeply that it would undoubtedly scar. Then as quickly as the woman appeared, she was gone. Ali tried to shake it off, but the strangeness of this house was finally getting to her. She stepped into the glass shower and she shuttered in pain when the water struck her back.

_Why are there no pictures of Ashlyn or her family? Why are there no mirrors? Why is there barely any furniture? Why are there bloody chains in a trunk? What’s up with all the weird books? What’s in that back room? What’s up with the housekeepers? Why am I in so much pain? Where did my clothes go? Why did I even come here?..._

These questions all burned holes in the back of Ali’s mind as the steam from the shower muffled out everything else. As haunting as these questions were and as curious as she was and as bad as she wanted answers, the only thing she wanted more was so just make it home.

As Ali made her way through the house and back downstairs to where she last saw Ashlyn, she again noticed the lack of mirrors. Not in the bedroom, not in the bathroom, and not in the foyer. Wrapped only in a towel, Ali rounded the corner to find Ashlyn setting in a tall chair by the window.

“Did you have a nice shower?” Ashlyn said, without looking up from the newspaper she had sprawled across her lap.

Ali ignored the question, eager to get out of the house and home.

“Where are my clothes?” Ali questioned.

Ashlyn paused, looking up at Ali over the rim of her reading glasses, before giving her attention back to the paper.

“I had Norman throw them out. They were no longer…wearable.”

“What? What does that even mean? What did you do to me last night?”

“I assure you, nothing you didn’t want me to do.” Ashlyn’s grin was just as alluring as it was unsettling.

“Alright, I think it’s time for me to go. This is all getting way too weird for me.”

“By all means, no one is keeping you here.” Ashlyn said. “I’ll have Diane go and find you something suitable to wear home and we’ll get you on your way. How’s that sound?”

Ali was almost surprised at this response. She was expecting some form of retort or protest.

“Good. That sounds really good.” Ali replied, matter-of-factly.

“Very well then, as you wish.” Ashlyn waved Diane off to go get the clothes. “In the meantime, have a seat and relax. Can I get you some coffee or water?” Ashlyn asked as she slowly got up from the chair and started towards the kitchen. Ali noticed as she walked in front of her that she had put on a shirt. She was slightly disappointed even given the circumstances, because although the morning had been anything short of normal, Ashlyn’s naked torso wasn’t a terrible sight.

“No, thank you, I’m okay.” Ali sat patiently, but uncomfortably on the arm of the couch as she waited for Diane to return.

A few minutes passed by and Diane came walking into the room with a stack of clothes in her arms.

“Thank you.” Ali said as she took the clothes.

“You’re welcome, dear.” Diane’s voice was sweet and Ali thought that she and Norman may be the only true good in this house.

Ali quickly got dressed in the adjacent room and when she was done she walked into the kitchen where Ashlyn was setting at the island.

“I called you a cab, should be pulling up any minute.”

“Thank you.”

Neither one spoke for several minutes as they waited in silence and soon, they heard the car pull up outside the door. Ali was going to say a few words of a goodbye, but couldn’t find the right ones. So she simply turned away.

“Ali-“ She stopped as she heard Ashlyn speak. “I’m sorry for any discomfort you may have felt this morning. I’m not very accustomed to having…guests.”

Ali was caught off guard by the genuine sympathy in her voice.

“It’s okay.” Ali said. She watched as Ashlyn nodded her head and gave her a quick smile. “Goodbye, Ashlyn.” She was about to say something more but actually managed to stop herself. Instead she got to the door and shortly thereafter, closed it behind her.

“Did she find the room?” Ashlyn asked, looking up to find Diane standing in the doorway.

“One of them.” Diane replied.

“What did she see?”

“Just a few books,” Diane said. “and the chains.”

Ashlyn’s jaw tightened and she ground her teeth together as she let out a heavy breath.

“Why was the door unlocked? Open even?”

“I went in there earlier this morning to-“

“You have to be more careful!” Ashlyn’s voice finally broke its level tone.

“Yes…” Diane said. She paused briefly before speaking again. “She will be back.”

“Yes, I do believe she will be.” Ashlyn said. “She still has questions, and if she digs deep enough, she’ll only come up with more. She’ll want answers, and when she does-“

“Your brother is not going to like this. I don’t know what it is with you two and constantly wanting to put this family in jeopardy. Your parents already paid the price for your actions and now you’re going to bring an innocent woman into this.”

“Innocent? You know who she is… _what_ she is.” Ashlyn was growing impatient.

“Yes, but she doesn’t.” Diane’s voice was hard. “What you’re doing is foolish. Hunting her down; bringing her into this house! It’s juvenile. You should be ashamed, bringing such a mockery onto this family. Like it’s some game. I saw the marks on her back. They’re deep enough. Do you even realize what you’ve done?”

“You really should talk less. You don’t want to end up like your boyfriend, Norman, do you?”

Diane looked up the staircase at the older man and felt a pit in her heart.

“I didn’t think so. Next time, I do hope you’ll think twice before speaking to me that way.” Ashlyn said, taking a sip of her coffee. “Now go lock those doors, all of them.”

Diane refrained from saying anything more and turned the corner and disappeared into the west wing of the house, leaving Ashlyn alone in the kitchen with every word she just spoke, rattling inside her head.

-

Ali could finally, for the first time in nearly 24 hours, breathe a sigh of relief as she stepped through the doorway of her apartment and collapsed onto the couch. Completely drained, emotionally and physically. After laying there a few minutes to regroup, she reached for her phone on the coffee table that she had forgotten to take with her the night before. She had thirteen missed called from Emily.

“Ali! Ali are you okay? I’ve been calling you all day! Where are you?” Emily was frantic as she picked up the call.

“I’m alright. I’m home. Do you think you can come over?”

“Are you kidding, I’m getting in my car right now. What happened?”

“Listen, I’ll explain when you get here.”

“Ali, you’re scaring me. You don’t sound okay.”

Ali fell silent for a few moments as her brain tried to process the last 24 hours. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew something wasn’t right about Ashlyn.

“There’s something weird going on in that house, Em.”

“What? You went back to her house? Are you crazy! What has gotten into you! Did she hurt you? Drug you? You know what, we’ll talk about this when I get there. I’ll see you in twenty minutes. This bitch is going down.”


	3. Tell Me Everything

Emily arrived promptly, twenty minutes later, at the door with a bottle of wine in hand. Ali was relieved to open the door and see her.

“I just want to say, it may be too soon, but I read somewhere that if you dig the hole vertically they are a lot less likely to find the body.” Emily couldn’t help getting it off her chest. Ali smiled.

“You really don’t understand how happy I am to see you.”

Ali pushed the door back and Emily closed it behind her as she stepped into the apartment.

“Ditto.” Emily set the bottle onto the coffee table and sat on the couch beside Ali. “So, what the hell happened last night? Why didn’t you call?” Her tone was of genuine concern.

“I don’t know, it’s weird. It’s like I barely remember anything.”

“I saw you, there’s no way you had that much to drink.”

“No, I know.”  Ali confirmed. “That’s what’s weird. I remember sitting at the bar and talking, and then I remember you coming over.”

“Yeah, I tried to get you to leave but you wouldn’t. And Ashlyn wasn’t being very helpful about it.”

Ali started shaking her head in disappointment.

“I’m sorry, Em…”

“Hey, whoa, don’t apologize. We are way passed that. I need you to focus and try and remember and tell me what happened. So, you remember being at the bar and then talking to me. Did you guys leave after that?”

Ali thought hard, there were a few things she still remembered.

“Yeah. We got up and I remember getting into her car.”

“Okayyyy, what about after that?”

“She asked me where I wanted to go and I told her…” Ali bit her tongue, realizing this whole ordeal was kind of her fault. “I told her that I wanted her to take me home…” Emily looked at Ali, waiting for her to finish what she clearly wasn’t saying. “with her.”

Emily rolled her eyes and let her head fall back over the couch.

“Ughhh.” She then quickly swung it back up. “Ali, sweetheart, you did this to yourself. Alright, so she took you to her house and what happened then?”

Emily watched Ali’s expression as she remembered and her eyes widened as Ali started to grin.

“We…uh,” Ali bit her lip and smiled, almost proudly.

“Oh. My god. You slept with her? You. You _actually_ slept with her?

Ali looked up at her friend and shrugged her shoulders.

“Jesus,” Emily shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t know if I’m proud, disappointed, or jealous…” Suddenly, in one big hop, Emily scooted herself right up against Ali. “So, how was it?” Ali looked at her and Emily raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. “Actually, hold that thought, this constitutes a glass of wine.” Ali laughed as Emily hopped up from the couch and retrieved two wine glasses from the kitchen cupboard then returned to the couch, pouring herself and Ali a hearty portion. She picked up a glass and handed the other to Ali. “Okay. Now, tell me everything.”

Ali took a sip of wine and again, shook her head.

“Wish I could, but…I don’t remember anything after that. The last thing I remember from that night is being up against the wall and she was…” Emily listened on intently. “Listen, all I can tell you is she’s good with her hands. Good kisser too.”

“Wow, wow, wow. Look at my best friend, getting freaky with a lady.” This made Ali laugh, but they were getting a little of topic.

“Can we focus please?” Ali said seriously, but still unable to wipe the smirk off her face. “This isn’t what I called you over to talk about it, remember?”

Emily let out a heavy exhale, she guesses she can live without the juicy details for now.

“Alright, alright. Forgot we were talking about a potential murderer here.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“So, what happened when you woke up?”

Ali took another sip of wine.

“When I woke up, she was gone. The room was weird. There were no dressers or pictures. No furniture, it was just a bed in a room. And there was this weird spike thing on the wall. When I got up to get dresses, I couldn’t find my clothes so I just wrapped one of the sheets around me and when I went downstairs, she was making breakfast. After I finished eating I went upstairs to get a shower but I saw that the door across the hall was open, so naturally, I went inside. It was full of shit, there was stuff everywhere. But I opened one of the trunks and there was this weird book inside…ahh, I can’t remember what it said but I know it was in another language. Most of the books in there were.”

“Okay, but that’s not really all that strange. My dad has tons of old books that are in other languages. Maybe she’s just a collector.”

“I guess but, in the same trunk, beside the book there was a bloody chain in an old bag. Looked like it had been through war. And there were cuffs on the end of the chain. Like cuffs to put somebody’s wrists in. And they weren’t like handcuffs either, they were just big steel shackles, from like medieval times.”

“Okay, that’s weird.”

“Yeah well, what was even weirder was the giant steel door with a padlock the size of a softball on it.”

“That was in the room too?”

“Yes.”

“Holy fuck, man…..that’s messed up.”

“No kidding.” Suddenly, Ali got up and set her glass down. “And if you think that’s fucked up, look at this.” Ali turned around and lifted her shirt up over her back. Emily nearly dropped her wine as she got up in horror.

“Whaat the fuuuck.” Emily ghosted her fingertips over the black flesh and deep lacerations on Ali’s skin. “Does it hurt?”

“You have no idea. I didn’t even see it until I got home because I couldn’t find a mirror anywhere.”

“What the hell did she do to you?”

Ali put her shirt back down and turned around; picking up her glass.

“I don’t know. But something seriously fucked is going on in that house. You know how we couldn’t find any pictures of Ashlyn or her family? Well, there wasn’t a single picture in the house either. There must be thirty rooms in that place and not a single picture, not even a painted portrait. Oh, and when I asked where my clothes went she told me they had to be thrown out because ‘they were no longer wearable’.”

“Holy shit, she must have really given it to you good. Did you ever think that’s all this could be? Just a case of rough sex and a too many drinks? Well…I guess that wouldn’t explain the weird trunk, bloody chain and padlocked door.”

“It wasn’t just rough sex, Emily.”

Just then Ali’s phone started ringing, it was her dad. She had totally forgotten that she had promised him last week that she would come over for dinner with her brother.

“Hey dad.” She said, answering the phone. “Yeah, I’m getting in the shower now. I’ll see you soon. Yep. Love you too.”

Ali set her phone back on the coffee table and finished her glass of wine in one big gulp.

“I have to get ready, promised my dad I’d be over for dinner tonight. I totally forgot. You’re welcome to stay here and hang out until I get back.”

“No, I better get home. Charlie is probably missing me.” She finished off her wine as well and got up to find her coat by the door. “We’re not done here. Call me when you get home. In the meantime, try to forget about it. I’m sure we’re letting on to this being more than what it is.” She swung her coat over her shoulders and grabbed the door. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Ali nodded with an unconvincing smile.

“Okay. I’ll talk to you soon. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

-

Ali’s dad didn’t live far. Really, it was only about a fifteen-minute drive from her apartment. Being as close as it is, you’d think she visited more often, but since her parents split she only saw him once, maybe twice a month and it was usually for dinner. It’s not even that she didn’t like seeing him or spending time with him, it just wasn’t the same. Because she very much enjoyed seeing her father, and even more so for dinner because her brother, Kyle, always came too. Since he moved to New York last summer, she hasn’t gotten to see him very often either, and she missed that.

When she arrived at the house, it was Kyle who answered the door.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” Kyle’s smile was a breath of fresh air.

“Hey you.” Kyle brought his sister in for a right hug. “Where’s dad?”

Ali stepped into the foyer and slipped off her shoes as Kyle took her coat and hung it up beside the door.

“He’s still cooking away in the kitchen! Had a little mishap with the roast. Not my fault!” Kyle quickly raised his hands, pleading his innocence. “She we had to restart. But no worries, it should ready in no time.”

Ali had always loved the way Kyle talked. He was never angry or upset, and no matter what he said or what he was talking about, he always sounded so happy and excited. He was a light in her life. Bright and sweet; renewing.

“I’ve missed you, Ky.” Kyle saw the hurt in his sister’s eyes.

“Hey, what’s with that face? I miss you too, but don’t be sad! I’m right here.” His words brought her solace, but it wasn’t him that haunted her.

“I know.” She gave him a quick smile. “I guess the face isn’t necessarily because of you. Just had a weird night, still trying to shake it.” Kyle looked confused.

“Well what happened? I thought you had the gala last night. Did it not go well?”

“The gala was great. It was beautiful and Emily and I had a lot of fun.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Ali and Kyle were still standing just inside the door. She peered over her brother’s shoulder and saw her dad pass by.

“Maybe we can talk somewhere else?”

“Sure, we can go in dad’s study. It’s not like he uses it.”

“Okay, but I want to wait until after dinner.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I think that would be better.”

-

Back at the Harris manor, Ashlyn was abruptly awakened by her brother, Christopher, who so quickly wrapped his hand around her throat and threw her from the chair.

“I was wondering when you would find out.” Ashlyn said, rubbing her neck.

Christopher found her on the floor and once again grabbed hold of her throat, this time, picking her up and slamming her against the fireplace, throwing chunks of stone and marble to the ground as her body smashed it to pieces, and he held her there.

“Do you think this is a game.” He snarled against her cheek. “You brought her here. You…Goddammit, Ashlyn! I should’ve known I couldn’t trust you with this. You had a very simple task.”

The anger in his eyes was abundant, but no more than the rage that now burned within her chest. But somehow, and for some reason, she buried it.

“You’re right.” She said. She held tightly to his hands, trying to take some of her weight off of her neck. She wasn’t afraid of him. “I’ll take care of it.”

Christopher looked at his sister and he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. He released his grip around her throat and she dropped to her knees amongst the ruins of the fireplace.

“You better.” His voice was rough and shallow. “Because you know what will happen if you don’t. And if it comes to that…I won’t stop them.”

Chris left the room. As she stood and straightened herself up, she saw Diane standing in the corner, watching her with her worried eyes.

“What are you looking at?” Ashlyn snapped. “Clean this up!”

Ashlyn walked out of the room in a quiet rage, leaving Diane standing in across the room where she said nothing. She knew the trouble that was coming and she knew that soon, the mess she would have to clean up would make the fireplace seem like nothing.

-

After the Krieger’s had finished up dinner, as promised, Kyle took Ali back to their father’s study where they could talk in private.

“Okay, here we are.” Kyle said as he turned around from closing the twin doors. “Spill it. What’s going on?”

Kyle sat in front of his father’s desk as Ali sat in his chair behind it. She slowly spun herself from side to side in the large leather chair, hoping the rocking motion would somehow make the words come easier.

“I met someone last night.”

“Okay?”

“We ended up going back to her place and-

“Wait.” Kyle said, waving his hands loosely. “Did say ‘her’? You went home with a woman?”

“Kyle please. Trust me, when I tell you the rest, that aspect will be totally irrelevant.”

Kyle dropped his hands and rested them on his thighs.

“Alright, I’m sorry. Not like I’m anyone to judge. I’m listening.”

Ali told him everything. It seemed like the more she told the story, the more she remembered. It was just little bits and pieces, most totally insignificant, but she was remembering. She feared though, that there was a reason her mind couldn’t access certain memories of that night. Perhaps the reason being that it was so horrible that her body repelled the images. Protecting herself from the truth of what happened. However scared she was though, she wanted to know…she needed to know.

Kyle leaned back in his chair and took it all in. Shuffling everything his sister told him. Suddenly he leaned forward, clasping his hands together.

“So, do we have any theories?” He asked.

“I’m trying to avoid that as long as possible because the last thing I need is to be getting weird ideas in my head.”

“Who knows, maybe she has a totally reasonable explanation for a trunk full of blood chains. Did you ask her?”

Ali looked at her brother as her eyes lowered beneath her brow.

“Yeah, Kyle. Because there’s never a more perfect moment to ask someone why they have bloody chains locked inside of trunk in a room that I shouldn’t even have been in.”

“Fair enough.” Kyle realized how foolish he sounded. “So, what do we do? Why can’t you just let it go? Forget about it?”

Ali relaxed into the soft leather of the chair and rested her head along the side of it, shaking her head.

“Because I can’t, alright? Something’s not right and I can feel it in my bones.”

Ali looked away from her brother and lost herself in her father’s bookshelf. Distracting herself with running her eyes over spines, when suddenly, something caught her attention. Ali, her eyes still fixated on the shelf, got up from the chair and walked over to the expansion of dark oak. There, on the shelf, was a book with the same leather-bound spine and the same words pressed into the material.

“This is it.” Ali’s voice was barely above a whisper as she removed it from the shelf in disbelief. “This is the same book that was in the trunk. Look,” Ali pointed to the words. “ _Upír, ďábel mezi námi_. This is it!“

Kyle came to his sister’s side and studied the words unfamilar to him.

“What does it say?“

“I don’t know...“

Kyle turned around and started towards the commuter on his dad’s desk and Ali was close behind.

“Well, we will just solve this mystery right night now.“ The keys clicked under Kyle’s fingers. He glanced back and forth from the screen to the cover as he typed the words into the translation box, making sure it was right. He hit enter but only half the mystery was solved.

“It’s Czech.“

“Well, what does it say?“ Ali couldn’t truly care less what language it was.

Her brother shrugged his shoulders in defeat.

“That’s the problem. This is a standard keyboard, you see those little lines above the letters? I can’t type those. And it only recognizes that it’s Czech, it can’t translate it without it being written in the proper form. The only words that it could translate are the last two...‘ _between us_ ‘.“

“Perfect. So this is just another dead end. Unless we find someone who can speak Czech.“

“Sorry, Alex.“ Kyle turned toward his sister.“ Why do you think this book has any significance? This could be nothing.“

“Because I just know,“ Ali said. “There’s something going on and I’m going to figure out what it is. And if I figure out that this book has nothing to do with it then well, that’s just one less thing I have to connect the dots to.“

Kyle was worried about his sister, her behavior. She never acted this way; frantic and afraid. Afraid in a way that it ate at her, chipping away who she was; breaking her down.

Ali picked up the book from the table and as she stepped away, soomething fell out of it. She heard whatever it was hit the ground and she looked at her feet to find a photograph. It was old and colorless, yellowed by the years.

“What is that?“ Kyle asked, watching his sister kneel down to pick it up.

“It’s a picture.“

They were men. A dozen, two dozen maybe, lined up infront of a treeline. They had rifles on their shoulders and wore heavy dark clothes. As she looked closer she noticed that everyone of them had the same thing hung around their necks. A crusifix. She scanned the faces and one amoung the rest stood out.

“Hey, is this grandpa?“ Ali stood up and brought the picture to her brother.

“I doubt it, that picture looks way too old. Maybe it’s his dad?“

Ali figured he could be right. She turned the picture over and saw there was something written on the back. It was in German, and this time, _she could read it_.

All of a sudden Ali gathered the book from the ground, and with the picture in hand, headed for the door.

“Ali, where are you going?“

“To get answers.“, Ali pushed throught the twin doors, not even turning around.

“I hate to rush out like this but I have to go.“ Ali gave her dad a quick kiss as she hastily made her way to the front door. .“Thank you for dinner.“

Just as she reached the door she heard he father speak.

.“Hey Al, you don’t have to wait for an invitaion...“ his eyes were heavy and sad. .“You know, you’re always welcome here.“

Ali knew her father missed her, and she missed him too, but she didn’t have time to sort that all out right now.

“I love you, dad.“ She gave him a smile and left.

Ali gripped her steering wheel tightly as she raced beneath the canopy of trees on the winding road. It wasn‘t long before she found herself infront of her grandfather’s house. When he ansered the door, he wasn’t only surprised to see his granddaughter, but worred as to why she looked so disheveled.

“Ali, what a surprise.“

“We need to talk.“ The old man’s smile faded as he saw the seriousness in his granddaughter’s eyes.

“What’s this about? Are you in some kind of trouble?“ He asked as she pushed passed him. She stopped and turned around when she reached the couch. “Ali, what the hell is going on?“

Ali removed the photograph from her coat pocket and dropped it onto the table between them. The old man looked at it and she watched his reaction closely. He looked as if he had no idea what it was, but Ali he knew otherwise because his eyebrow twitched.

“Where did you find this?“

“That’s you.“ Ali said. “In the picture, front row, second from the right.“

“Don’t be absurd, this pictures has to be over a hundred years old.“

“Don’t lie to me!.“ Ali was all out of patience. She was tired. She was in pain. She turned the picture over on the table, revealing the words on the back, reciting them to him.“ _Krieger des Blutes_. It’s German. It means ‘warriors of the blood‘.“ Ali reached into her coat and removed the book from the inside pocket. “It was in this.“ She dropped it, allowing it to now fall onto the table, hitting the wood with such a sound that it nearly made the old man jump. Suddenly he looked up at her, his eyes were narrow and pointed.

“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.“

“I don’t care. You’re going to tell me everything.“

He looked at her and he could see the pain in her eyes, the fear and desperation. Whatever it was that she had gotten herself into, she was already in it, and now all there was to be done was try and minimize the damage and come up with a plan. He slowly walked over to his chair and sat down.

“It’s late. You look exhausted. I’ll tell you what, stay here tonight, get some rest, and in the morning, I’ll tell you anyhting you want to know.“

Ali studied his expression. Aside from not trusting him, he looked like he was good on his word. And she was exhausted. It would probably be best if she heard whatever it was that he had to say only after she was well rested and perhaps in a better headspace. Finally, she gave in.

“Alright.“

Ali Kicked off her shoes and placed her coat on the back of the couch. She laid back, crossing her legs over one another and folded her hands ontop of her stomach and closed her eyes. She was alseep almost instantly.

 

 

 

 


	4. Krieger des Blutes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the update took longer than expected. This was HARD to sort out and write. I really wish you guys could see my notebook that i'm using to keep track of everything- it's pretty ridiculous. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! The next chapter might get a little...messy:)

  Ali’s body twisted and turned as she slept. Visions, flashbacks of that night haunted her dreams.

She was there. Lying in the bed. Ashlyn was standing over her, she could only see who it was though, everything else was blurry, as if she was looking through a tunnel. She was enjoying what was happening, she could feel it again, the way she felt inside of her. Suddenly the blurred figure reached above her and blood began to drip onto Ali’s face. She tilted her head back as Ashlyn’s hand pressed into her neck and she could feel the blood running down her skin. The vision began to fade in pulses and soon it was all black. When the images came back, she was standing beside the bed, watching herself and Ashlyn. She was setting in her lap, her legs wrapped around her. Ashlyn’s mouth was covered in blood and it dripped onto Ali’s chest. The color, so deep and vivid. It looked like syrup as it ran down her chin. She watched as Ashlyn dug her nails into Ali’s back and as they moved, the same deep and vivid fluid spilt from the wounds. Ali stood, horrified as she watched it happen. Her head fell back and Ali saw that blood dripped from her mouth too. Then a voice started speaking. The words, incoherent and shrieking. It grew louder and louder. Ali, still standing in the corner of the room beside the bed, covered her ears. The shrill grew so loud that Ali felt as though her ears were going to bleed. The sound continued and as it got closer, Ali screamed.

Suddenly, Ashlyn jolted from her sleep in a cold sweet.

“You see her dreams.” Ashlyn sat up and found Diane folding her laundry. “You feel her pain because you are connected. Bonded.” Diane’s gaze quickly dropped and her tone changed to something much more broken. “You’re killing her. You know how this has to end.”

-

 “I had always hoped, prayed, that the day would never come when I would have to have this conversation with you.” Grandfather said, placing a cup of coffee in Ali’s hands. “But, I guess it’s time you learned the truth.” He sat across from her and a heavy breath filled his lungs. “Our family, comes from a _unique_ bloodline. A bloodline that can be traced back hundreds of years to the earliest days of the German empire. When our family first came to be, we carried the name Krieger des Blutes. That was around the beginnings of the 18 th century. At that time, our family was plagued with an awful disease, a disease so horrible that people believed it to be the workings of the devil himself. We were cast out. Our homes, burned to the ground. Our families, hung and torn to pieces and thrown in unmarked graves. It was awful. I had never seen such violence.“

“You talk as if you were there…”

The old man had not even noticed the way in which he was speaking. He knew his granddaughter was smart, and wasn’t surprised that she caught it. He knew that lying to her would be futile.

“That’s because I was.” As much as Ali had thought it, it was much different to actually hear it and to know that it was the truth. “That is me in the photograph. It was taken in 1809, a Sunday I believe.”

“That’s impossible. That photo is over two hundred years old. That would make you…you would be dead.”

“And I can’t tell you how badly I wish I was.”

“What are you saying? What aren’t you telling me?”

The old man got up from his chair and opened up the desk drawer and removed a something.

“That book you found the photograph in, I have one too. Only I think you’ll find this one easier to read.”

He extended his arm, handing the book Ali and though the words were in German, they were very clear.

“Vampir.” Ali said then suddenly laughing. “You’re telling me that I come from family of vampires.”

“In simple terms, yes. To history, you are a nachzehrer.”

“And what the hell does that mean?”

“It means ‘after living off’. A nachzehrer was creature in German legend that walked the earth even after death and fed on the blood of humans. They first came to Germany from Czechoslovkia at the end of the 16th century, only they were called Upir. It wasn’t until one of your earliest ancestors was charmed by one these creatures and was bitten that our family name was stained. When the town learned of what had happened, they damned him and damned anyone else who would ever carry the Krieger name. It was a punishment for being so foolish and unkowing…so they made us never forget what we were. After a few years, the genes had been passed down the bloodline, claiming almost our entire family. Many of us were killed. We didn’t want to be monsters any more than they wanted us to be. So we made a decision. We went to the town circle and we got down on our knees and we pleaded for forgiveness. And in hopes of saving our family from eternal damnation, we vowed to never take another human life, but instead to hunt and fed off the creatures who ruined our family name. We fought back against our own blood, and our name was given a new meaning. For hundreds of years after that, the Krieger des Blutes have hunted and killed Upir. We protected our people. And soon, we started to become more and more human. Many of us even enlisted and fought in the great war. But soon, it was becoming not enough. Finally, at the end of the second world war, I left Germany and I came here. When I arrived, wanting desperately to leave that retched life behind, I changed our name back to the one that you carry now. When I met you grandmother and shortly thereafter had your father and he showed no signs of having the blood, I thought that our family would finally be free. And then you were born. I knew the minute I saw you in that hospital room that the blood that flowed through your veins was that of mine. And I never told you because I wanted to protect you.”

Ali was having great difficulty processing all of this at once. Up until this point, she had lived a completely normal life. She didn’t understand how she had come this far not knowing she was such a damned creature.

“But I’ve never showed signs. I’ve never needed to feed on someone, I don’t have super strength or speed…”

“That’s because after all these years the blood has gotten weakened in genetic reproduction. You haven’t showed signs because you haven’t begun the change. That’s also why you are still ageing.”

“When will I change?”

“The change will not begin until you feed for the first time.”

“So you mean to tell me that if I go out right now and slit some guys throat and drink their blood, I’ll have fangs and a horrid complexion by the end of the week.”

“Alexandra, this is serious, you don’t understand the importance of this; of the blood you carry.”

“So is this why Ashlyn picked me out at the Gala? She’s Upir.”

The limitless questions finally gained a foothold in her mind and a whole new sensation filled her body. She was no longer afraid or confused- she was angry. She angry that her family had held this secret from her for so long and she was angry at the fact that if they had told her sooner that she would have known better.

 “Ashlyn? Who is Ashlyn?” This was the first her grandfather was hearing of this name.

“She’s the reason I’m here in first place. This book, the book I found in dad’s study, the same one was in her house. Along with a lot of other things that I’m trying to forget about.”

“If she had that book then you are in danger. If she found you, it’s because she was looking; searching.”

“But why me? Why not you? Or dad?”

“Because you are the last true blood of the Nachzehrer. You are the last warrior of the blood.”

“This is crazy. I can’t believe this.”

“Ali, I know how difficult this must be for you to understand but you have to understand that you are in real danger. You have to stay away from that woman.”

“Yeah. We’ll see about that.”

Ali retrieved her jacket from the back of the couch and laced up her boots. And headed for the door, but her grandfather was close behind her.

“I can’t stop you. You’re going to do whatever it is that you feel you have to, but I beg you, be smart.” He held out the book to Ali. “Please, take this. It will help you.”

She was angry, but the truth was, no matter what kind of blood flowed through her veins, no matter what kind of untapped power she had, she had no idea of this world she was getting herself into. She knew nothing, not even of what she was herself. She suddenly felt guilty for treating him so unkindly about the situation. It was no more his fault than it was hers. She took the book and offered him a small smile before disappearing into her car and soon her taillights were ghosts amongst the trees.

When she got back to her apartment, she called Emily and not much long after she was standing outside Ali’s apartment.

Saying that it was difficult to explain the situation to her was an understate. Besides, how do you explain something that you don’t understand yourself?

“Whoa.” Emily sunk into the couch, the neck of her sweatshirt nearly completely covering her face. “This isn’t a joke, is it? You’re serious.”

Ali slowly nodded her head. She took a bite of pizza and quickly chased it with a gulp of wine.

“So, what now?” Emily asked, still in a faded state of disbelief.

“My grandpa told me to stay away from her, he thinks she’s dangerous.”

“Well if she really is…what did you say? Upir? If she really is Upir then that means she like you. I’m sure that dating pool is quite shallow in this century so- maybe she genuinely just wanted to connect with someone.”

“As much as I wish that was the case, I don’t think it is.” Suddenly, a sharp pain engulfed Ali and she reeled back in pain, nearly taking her to the floor.

“Ali, jesus, are you okay!” Emily ran to Ali and tried to comfort her.

“No..” Ali groaned. “It’s my back.”

“Lemme see it,” Ali leaned forward and Emily lifted her shirt. What she saw was far from expected. “Ali…there’s nothing here.”

“What? What are talking about?”

“The bruises..the cuts..Ali, they’re gone.”

Ali got up from the chair and ran to the bathroom. She turned around and looked at her back in the mirror. There was nothing there. Nothing.

“There’s not even a scar.” Emily said in a shaky voice.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, she began to feel something else. It started in her toes and slowly worked it’s way into her stomach and into her throat. She suddenly felt hot. She felt sick. She turned and fell to her knees and starting throwing up into the toilet. Emily knelt down to hold back her hair and when she looked over her shoulder she saw that the toilet was full of blood.

“Ali, what the fuck. What’s happening to you?”

Ali grabbed hold of the rim and tried to stabilize herself. She looked at the pool of red just inches from her face.

“I need you to bring me that book.” Ali said breathily.

Emily didn’t understand why but she ran out and got it without hesitation. She handed it to Ali and she desperately began flipping through it. Looking for something, anything that would give her an explanation for what was happening. Finally, she saw a picture that seemed fitting.

“Here.” She said, stopping a finger over a disturbing drawing of a person bent over with a stream of red coming from their mouth. “What does it saw?” Ali turned it over to Emily as she felt another wave coming.

“Ver..klebung des Blutes.” She replied, trying her best to read the foreign words. “What does that mean?”

Ali sat up and closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Bonding of the blood,” She said. “What else does it say?”

Emily looked back down at the page and she tried to continue but it might as well have been brail.

“Ali, I can’t…you have to read this. I can’t understand any of it.”

After a few minutes, Ali sent the book sliding across the floor and it hit the far war with some force. Ver calmly, Ali got to her feet and left the bathroom. Emily was close behind her.

“Ali what is it? What’s going on?” She watched as her best friend gathered her keys and began putting on her coat. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”

“You know where I’m going.” Ali said.

“Alex. No. You are not going back there! Have you lost your mind?”

“I don’t have a choice.”

Ali opened the door and as she walked through it, Emily was quickly coming out after her.

“Do not follow me.” Ali snapped, abruptly turning to her. Her voice was cold and hard, level.

Emily stopped dead in her tracks as if she had suddenly stepped into a pad of cement.

“Okay.” She said. “I won’t follow you.” Right as the words came out of her mouth she couldn’t believe she said them. She looked at her best friend and she saw nothing. Her eyes were black. Then as she stood there, blood began to run from her nose. “Al...you’re bleeding.”

Ali brought her fingers to her nose and then brought them to her eyes. They were covered in blood. Before she began to panic, she grabbed her nose and started off down the hall.

-

Ali threw her car in park and stepped out in front of the mansion and began pounding on the doors. When it was Norman who opened it, she ignorantly pushed in past him and began looking around.

“We need to talk!” Ali echoed through the house.

“Back for more, already?” Ali’s head shot to the sound of the voice and found Ashlyn.

“I know what you are.”

Ali followed Ashlyn with her eyes and she slowly walked through the house, disappearing behind one wall and then reappearing on the other side of another.

“And if you know what I am then you know what you are.”

Ali looked at her and she felt that heat rising in her stomach again. She ran to the kitchen and began throwing up into the sink.

“I see it’s already starting to work.” Ashlyn said, leaning on the counter next to her.

“What did you do to me?”

“I bonded my blood to your own, forcing your body to make some…changes. It was the only way to make you reach your full potential. Do you have any idea the power that you have? What you’re capable of.”

“I don’t care! Why didn’t you just kill me?”

“That would’ve been too easy.”

Ashlyn fell silent and it made Ali’s blood boiler even hotter.

“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance, because now,” Ali’s gaze was petrifying. “I’m coming for you.”

 


	5. Thirst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some family stuff came up and some unexpected difficulties with my laptop, so I couldn't get this up as quickly as I wanted to. I apologize for the wait. But here's chapter five! Let me know what you guys think. There are still a couple things I want to explain in more detail, Ashlyn's family history for one but this wasn't the chapter I wanted to do that so that will be coming very VERY soon:) Enjoy guys

Ashlyn arrived to work that following Monday and it was very clear that her mind was in another place. She parked her car in front of her building and didn’t even bother waiting for the valet to take her keys before pushing through the tall glass doors. Her hard-soled leather wingtips clacked across the marble floor with every step she took. It was a sound not unfamiliar to the people who worked in this building. In fact, it was a sound all too familiar. Everyone scattered to their posts, making sure everything was right and in order before Ashlyn could ask.

“Where’s my coffee?” Ashlyn growled as she neared her office doors. Usually someone had handed it to her by now. Suddenly a small blonde woman shot out from behind one of the desks, holding out a large tumbler. She took it rather rudely, without ever giving the woman a second of eye contact. ‘ _Good morning, Ms. Harris…_ ’ the woman said under her breath, watching Ashlyn continue down the hallway. She pulled open the heavy doors and they shut with a loud thud as she disappeared into her office.

She tossed her bag onto of the chairs against the wall and fell heavy into her chair behind her desk. She took a few moments to herself and then logged onto her computer. She grabbed her coffee and took a sip. Her face almost instantaneously crinkled in disgust. In one ungodly quick movement, she threw the cup off to the side where the plastic shattered against the wall. Just as the coffee began dripping from the wall, a man entered the room; his face littered with fear.

“What?” Ashlyn said in a low flat tone. When the man didn’t answer right away, still petrified to be in her office, she got impatient. “What! What do you need!” The man nearly dropped the files in his arms.

“Ms. Harris. I..I…They wanted me to remind you that you have a visual meeting this morning upstairs in the design room.”

“Great.” She looked up and noticed the man still standing in the door, looking at the pieces of plastic in a pool of dark liquid on the floor. “Get out!” The man quickly gathered himself and slipped out of her office.

She rested her elbows on the table and ran her hands tightly through her hair. No one may have known what was causing her heightened irritability today, but she did. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Ali; that night. She tightened her jaw and slammed her fist down onto the desk. Ever since that night, she wakes in a cold sweat from seeing her dreams. She sees them as if they were her own. A punishment for what she did. A foolish mistake that would soon come around for her. She couldn’t help it though, it was in her nature to do what she did. Only she didn’t realize the repercussions it would have until it was too late. Now she only had two options, kill her like she was supposed to in the first place, before anyone found out, or wait and it be both of them that paid the price. What hung heaviest on her mind was that she couldn’t make a decision. But in the back of her mind, she knew there was possibly a third option.

She took the elevator up three floors and got off on the design room floor. It wasn’t a long walk, but it was a couple long stretches and around a few corners. She didn’t mind though. This floor was always the quietest because she only allowed a small team of five to work in the studio. And besides, she knew this building like the back of her hand. It was hers.

She reached the door and found three of her five in the room, standing around one the cushion mannequins they used for fitting.

They immediately jumped into the important stuff, being extra aware of how dangerous it was to waste Ashlyn’s time, especially today. The design team, you could say, received and ‘anonymous’ tip that she was a bit extra on edge today. It was nothing super out of the ordinary. They just wanted to run the last of the sketches by her before the next show this weekend. It was just a matter of picking the right materials and colors. It was down and dusted before noon.

Ashlyn signed off on what was required of her for claiming purposes while the team packed up the samples and begin getting to work on the final product. As she handed over the clipboard and removed her glasses down from her nose, she noticed something in the corner of the room.

“What the fuck is that?” Ashlyn said pointedly.

Ryan, the head of the team, looked at her confused as he took the clipboard from her. Seeing that her eyes were still fixed, he followed them and turned around to see what had caught her attention so abruptly. His face was curious.

“It’s a mirror ma’am?”

She slowly brought her eyes back to his, looking down at him from under her brow.

“Was I not clear when I said there are not to be any mirrors in this building? The only mirrors that should exist in here are the ones in your bathrooms that you all seem to find so necessary.”

“I’m sorry ma’am-“

“Get it out.” She said. “Now! Get it out of here!”

The man quickly went and set the clipboard down and one of the other designers went and helped him get it from the corner. She stood solid, watching as they carried it. As they passed in front of her, she looked in to the glass and saw nothing reflecting back at her. It was empty. When the were gone, she looked up at the other designers and they were just staring at her, not knowing why she was as upset as she was over a mirror. But had they been on her side, seeing what she saw- they would understand her indifference.

When she got back to her office, she gathered her things and left.

-

“Who’s this?”

Emily walked into Ali’s apartment and didn’t recognize the older gentleman sitting in her usual spot. There was a very weird vibe in the room, she could feel it. Ali, who was standing beside the chair with her arms crossed, relaxed them at her sides as she walked over to introduce everyone.

“This is my grandfather. And before you ask, yes. He knows. He’s like me.”

Emily looked back to the old man and gave him a smile. Suddenly she got excited.

“Alright!” She said nodding her head. “So, what’s next? Are we taking this bitch down or what?”

Ali laughed and shook her head as she looked at her grandfather who was very confused about her friend’s response.

“Actually, I brought you here because that’s exactly what I think we need to talk about…along with some other things…”

This got her grandfather’s attention and he sat up, interested.

“Other things?” He said in a questioning tone.

Ali nodded her head and motioned for Emily to take a seat as she took one herself.

“What do you know about blood bonding?”

Her grandfather knew the importance and significance such a thing held and was deeply concerned as to why she was asking.

“Why the interest in that?”

Ali knew she had to lie, at least in the meantime because she was afraid if she told him why she was really asking that he would cover up the truth or not give her the full truth and that was far from what she needed. So, she came up with the best roundabout answer she could think of in that fraction of a second. She shrugged her shoulders and made a face, trying to make it look as innocent as possible.

“It was just something I saw in that book and was curious. This is all still pretty new to me and I’d like to learn as much as I can. I figured there wouldn’t be a better person to ask than you.”

He looked at her and part of him believed that she was genuinely curious and another part of him didn’t. The fact of it was, he didn’t have the time or the patience to argue with her about it.

He sat back and got comfortable before taking a deep breath.

“Verklebung des Blutes, ‘bonding of the blood’, is a ritual preformed amongst Upir. It is exactly what it sounds like. It’s when one Upir bonds its blood with another. It is most commonly practiced by either pricking a finger or even making cuts all over the body in order for the fluids to be exchanged. However, the ritual only worked if it was performed in a state climax. It is a very intimate and highly significant ritual amongst their kind. It wasn’t so common amongst Nachzehrer.”

“So it won’t work unless you have an orgasm?”

Ali looked at Emily and ignored the question, trying to be patient and not laugh at her thoughtless word vomit.

“Why though? What purpose does it serve?” Ali asked.

“Well, in the earliest days it was how the clans were formed. Upir would gather and they would perform the ritual, bonding them all to one another.”

“So like one big bloody vampire orgy.” Ali and her grandfather looked at Emily.

“Yes Emily. Exactly like that.” He said, before returning to answer the second part of his granddaughter’s question. “When performed between just two individuals, it is almost like a marriage of sorts. Once bonded to one another, each individual develops a certain loyalty to each other. It was also referred to as ‘der Hunger’.”

“The hunger? Why was it called that?”

“Because once bonded, a craving occurs.  A craving for each other. A sexual craving. That was also the reason the Upir clans had such strong bloodlines, because it was all intertwined.” He watched closely at Ali’s expression. “Now that I told you the truth, why don’t you tell me the truth of way you asked.”

She should’ve known.

“Something happened that night, with Ashlyn, and I can only remember fragments. I confronted her about it a couple days ago and when I asked what she did to me, she told me that she bonded her blood with mine.”

“Do you know for certain that she is telling the truth, she could be trying to fool you.”

“That’s what I was hoping but I when I woke up that next morning, my body ached and when I got home I looked in the mirror and there were these deep cuts in my back.”

“Show me.”

“I can’t…They’re gone. They just disappeared. Nearly overnight.”

 Watching the expression on his face morph was horrifying. He clearly knew something that she didn’t.

“What?”

“Ali, if she did bond her blood with yours, knowing you are a Nachzehrer…”

“Please, for once, just say it.”

“You’re changing. Her blood is making you change. That’s why the cuts on your back disappeared, they healed. Her blood is kickstarting the regenerative properties of your Nachzehrer blood…at this rate it won’t be long before normal food will no longer be able to sustain you.”

“But wait. I thought that I wouldn’t change until I fed for the first time? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Think of it this way. What’s the difference between taking a drug and a drug being directly delivered into your bloodstream. There is no difference. You get the same affect, only one gets a reaction quicker…much quicker.”

“So that’s it. There’s nothing I can do?” Ali began to panic, for the first time perhaps actually understanding how big of an impact this was going to have on her life. “I can’t kill anyone! I can barely kill a spider! And now I’m supposed to hunt them? **_Feed_** off of them!”

“There are ways around that. Feeding off the blood of animals for one. Or donor blood. But I’m afraid now that’s the least of your worries.”

“How can that be the least of my worries. How can it get any worse than that?”

“It actually gets much worse. You see, Verklebung des Blutes, ‘ _spojování krve’_ in their language, is only custom if performed between Upir. When the ritual is performed with an outsider, someone of different blood, such as a Nachzehrer, because it is so sacred to them and crucial to their existence, it is considered to be a mockery in the highest form to the Narozených. A mockery punishable by death, for all individuals involved.”

“Narozených? Who are they?“

“The borns. The first Upirs born by the blood. They are the originals of their kind. For hundreds of years they have acted as judge, jury and executioner of Upir custom.“

“And since Ashlyn performed the ritual with me, they’re coming for us.“

Her grandfather let out a sigh and stood.

“Yes..“

"But she must have known what would happen. Why would she do this?  Why would she sign her own death warrant?"

"I have no idea. I truly don't."

Ali looked off and got up, walking to the kitchen to where she found a bottle of wine. She grabbed the glass and looked out the window. The street below was bustling with people, even in the late hour. She watched them all as the rushed about with their briefcases and bags, just trying to get from one place to another. Just carrying on with life. Normal. She envied them.

“How much time do I have?“ Ali didn‘t remove her gaze from the window and her grandfather slapped his hands down at his side in defeat.

“I don’t know. They may not have found out yet, if that’s the case, I say you have a couple weeks.“

“And if not? If they already know?“ Emily asked. Her voice was quiet, she knew it was no longer a place for jokes.

“A couples days. A week at most.“ He said.

Ali turned and nodded her head.

She had always wondered what it would feel like to get the news that you only had days to live, she wondered how she would react and what she would do in that time. She never thought it would actually be something she had to consider. She certainly didn’t want to walk her last days as a monster.

She walked over and hugged her grandfather.

“We’re going to fight this, Ali. We’re warriors. It’s what we do. I will stand with you.“

“Me too.“ Emily said.

Ali looked at the people before her and smiled.

“You guys..I appreciate that. But this is my battle. I don’t want anayone else getting sucked into this. Especially not you.“

They both smiled. They knew in the scheme of things, there was nothing that either of them could do to stop what was coming.

-

As Ashlyn was on her way home from work, she decided that she had other plans for the evening. She made a few turns and not too long after, found herself infront of a club. She got out of her car, and took off her blazer- tossing it into the back seat. She undid a few buttons on her shirt and messed up her hair just the perfect amount. The moment she stepped inside, she could feel the bass of the music beating inside her chest. The lights were low and there was only a glow from the florecent strobes. There were people on every square inch of that floor. She had no interest in dancing. Not tonight. She settled herself on one the stools at the bar and surveyed the hunting ground. There was a brunette across the dancefloors that couldn’t seem to take her eyes away from Ashlyn’s. As she danced, rolling her hips back and forth and running her hands all over her body and through her hair, she never broke eye-contact. Finally, Ashlyn riased her hand and gestured with her finger for her to come closer. She made her way over and Ashlyn got down from the stool. The woman grabbed Ashlyn’s hand as she walked past, leading them into the ladies room.

A few minutes later a group of girls walked in and they could barely keep from laughing at the moans coming from one of the stalls. The one girl looked down and all she could see was the very bottom half of someone knelt down and then a single heeled foot. The girls turned around and began touching up her lipstick.

“I hope I’m next!“ she called behind her to the couple in the stall.

“Let’s take a picture toegther guys!“ One of the other ones said.

“Yes!!“

Suddenly the noise in stall went quiet.

The three girls huddled together and the one in the middle held the phone out to take the picture. The flash went off just as they stall door opened and Ashlyn stepped out.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry.“ The girl said, not meaning to get Ashlyn in their picture. She turned around and looked up at the tall short haired woman. “Oh wow...“ She said, marveling. “You, ahh, have fun in there?“ She said, winking at Ashlyn.

Ashlyn looked at her a brief moment before wiping her mouth and walking out.

The girl looked down at her phone.

“Whoa, that’s weird?“

“What?“

“That girl, she’s not in the picture. She walked out right as I took it, she should be right there.“

“Oh relax, you’re just mad you don‘t have a picture of her to look at tonight while you’re touching yourself. I saw the way you looked at her.“

The girl bit her lip and laughed. But when she looked back up into the mirror and watchhed as the stall door slowly swung open, her phone shattered against the ground. And she began to scream.

She turned around and they all began screaming. The woman in the stall was sprawled open, slumpt back against the wall. She was covered in blood from her waist down. She was dead.

When help finally came, the girl ran out to stop Ashlyn, but she was gone.

-

Later that night, Ashlyn was on her routine run over the property. She was on the final straight to the doors when she noticed something the closer she got. She walked up and took out her headphones as she looked at the red smear on the door. It was the mark of the Narozených. It was a mark to let her know that they were coming for her.

 


	6. I'm the devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I mentioned before, I've been having some serious issues with my computer. The last update basically crashed it and so I lost a lot of my documents and I actually had to wait until I got a hold of my brother's computer to rewrite this chapter which took much longer than I expected. I'm a little frustrated because I wasn't expecting such difficulty and I wanted to have this story done by Halloween. However, shit happens and here we are lol Anyway, Thanks for sticking around (or coming back). I do have my brother's laptop now so I'm not anticipating the next update to take anywhere near as long.

 The next day, Ali tried to go back to her normal routine. However, no matter how hard she tried to forget her inevitable future, it was all she could think about. That night, she couldn’t sleep. She tried to lie still but it felt like her body wanted to jump out of its own skin. This time it wasn’t the dreams that haunted her. It was her real nightmare. After a few minutes of fighting with herself, she got out of bed and quickly threw on some clothes and left her apartment. It was late, she figured not many people would be out and all she wanted to do was get some fresh air. She figured after the past week that’s all she needed seeing as how all of it was suffocating her. So a few laps around town in the cool thin air would do her some good.

-

“Thank you, Diane.” Ashlyn said, taking the pepper shaker from her hand.

It wasn’t unusual for dinner to be this time of night. And it also wasn’t unusual for Ashlyn and her head housekeeper to be the cooks.

“You want to tell me what this is?” It was Christopher’s voice that drew the sudden attention.

Ashlyn turned briefly to see the newspaper he held in his hand before he began reading it aloud.

“Young woman, 23, identified as Melany Campbell, was found dead late last night in the bathroom of popular club in downtown Pittsburgh. Multiple witnesses claim they saw the woman walking into the bathroom with someone around 11pm. Her body was found just 20 minutes later when a group of girls saw her in one of the stalls. When reviewing the surveillance footage from the club, Melany can be seen walking into the bathroom, but challenging the legitimacy of the eyewitnesses because she was alone. The case took an even weirder turn when an official report was filed by the coroner stating that the young woman had no visible wounds of any kind nor was there any indication of a struggle. The report went on to state that Melany’s body had been drained of nearly ninety-percent of its blood. Police are still investigating.” Chris slammed the paper down on the counter beside Ashlyn. “That’s one hell of a story, Ash, don’t you think?”

“Yep, pretty crazy.” Ashlyn had no reason to act so ignorant about it, she knew just as well as he did that it unbelievably juvenile of her to behave in such a way.

Chris suddenly took his arm across the counter, clearing everything from the surface and onto the floor. Ashlyn turned to him, defensive.

“First the girl, now this.” He scoffed. “You’re doing one hell of a job fucking this whole thing up!”

“I’ll take care of it.” Ashlyn’s voice was even.

“No, I’m done waiting for you to ‘take care of it’. You’re unreliable. You’re dangerous and you’re sloppy.” Christopher turned away from her with a cold shoulder and headed for the door. “I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Don’t-“

“Don’t what?” Christopher shot back as he turned.

When Ashlyn didn’t speak, he turned back around and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him. She looked down at the simmering vegetables in the pan. She was so angry. Suddenly she took a step back and began undoing the tie on the back of her apron and took it up over her head and threw it on to the counter.

“You’re can’t let him do this. You’ll never forgive yourself. Your heart is not like his; it’s not as cold.”

Ashlyn looked over at her. Her expression- unreadable. And just like that she disappeared from the kitchen.

-

Ali wasn’t accustomed to walking alone late at night. Her mother always told her that it was the most dangerous thing a beautiful can do; aside from falling in love with a man… But lately, she didn’t seem to be afraid of much. In fact, tonight, as she’s walking along that uneven sidewalk on Forbes Avenue, she feels that she is the scariest thing out tonight. Part of her liked that while the other part was afraid of it. She had no idea what she was truly capable of and how she would react and if she was even going to be able to have some sort of restrain on herself; some control if the right opportunity presented itself. At the moment, she just hopes and prays that she won’t have to find out before it’s too late.

She was just about to cross the street from 6th ave to Liberty, she noticed a group of people standing off to the side, up against the buildings. She looked long enough for one of them to point her out and for the rest of them to turn around and see her for themselves. She turned away as of to convince herself that she didn’t see them and she trotted across the street. She wasn’t even to the other sidewalk before she could hear the footsteps catching up to her behind her.

She wasn’t even thinking, she should have stayed out in the open but she ran into one of the spaces between the buildings, trying to slow them down but just as she reached the other side, they caught up to her.

“My, my, my…aren’t you one gorgeous creature.” The tall man in the pushed her up against the wall with the arm across her chest.

“Let go of me.”

“What do you think boys? Should we give her-“

“I said, Let. Me. Go.” Ali’s voice was on a different level this time and when the man turned and made eye contact, she looked far from afraid and without giving it anymore thought, he removed his arm from her chest and stepped back.

“What are you doing?” The others said, but the man heard nothing they said.

“Now take your friends and get out of here and do not follow me.”

“Guys, let’s get out of here. Don’t follow her.” Ali watched as the man turned away and walked past his friends and they followed, except for one. Ali turned towards him and fixed her eyes on his and he felt uneasy but didn’t know why. His stomach turned when the blood began to drip from her nose.

“Spooky bitch..” Was all he said before disappearing around the corner.

As soon as they were out of sight, Ali exhaled deeply and then took in a heavy breath of relief. But it would be short lived. The second she stepped out on to the sidewalk, wiping her nose, a hand was clasped around her throat.

It was Christopher.

“Your mind games won’t work on me sweetheart.”

“What do you want?” Her voices was broken, the air unable to easily move over her vocal chords with his hand around them.

He was a giant. He looked her over, up and down.

“Now I see why Ashlyn had such a hard time doing this herself. It really is such a shame. You’re so beautiful.”

The words felt like gunshots in her ears.

He leaned into her neck and breathed in. Ali knew that with her size there was nothing that she could do. This was it…

“I really am going to enjoy this.”

He reeled his head back and when he opened his mouth it opened far more than normal and two distinctly pointed teeth flanking his four front teeth dripped with saliva. Ali closed her eyes. When his teeth pierced the skin, it wasn’t Ali’s groan he heard…it was his sister’s. Suddenly he could taste the sour and bitterness of the blood and he jumped back in disgust.

“Ashlyn-“ Ali never thought she would ever be happy to see her; grateful even.

Ashlyn stood strong, her arm still outstretched, protecting Ali as the blood saturated the fabric on her shoulder. Christopher took a few steps forward, his fist clenched and everything was off the table. Ashlyn felt the angry surge through her body and flood her veins and her eyes went dark. She didn’t care that it was her brother, she had no intentions of losing this fight.

She pushed herself from the wall and away from Ali and as Christopher’s fist cut through the air between them, she caught it.

“Ooo, showing off for your girlfriend, are we?” Ashlyn crumbled his fist in her hand, the sound of the bones breaking was a sound Ali will never unhear. She threw him back against the building and when she swung he rolled out of the way and grabbed her wrist, bringing it up behind her back and pinning her against the wall. He grabbed her hair and pulled back before slamming her face into the brick, sending a crack up the wall.

“You’re strong. But not stronger than me.” Christopher growled into her ear.

She put her leg in battery and brought her heel down hard on the top of his foot and landed an elbow into his ribcage.

Ali watched, knowing how this was going to have to end.

As Christopher buckled over, grabbing his side, feeling the broken ribs, Ashlyn came to his side, kicking in his knee, shattering the bones. She knelt down beside his broken body and felt no remorse.

“This is your fault. It’s all your fault, Christopher. If you had listened to me and let it go…we would both be going home tonight. But you couldn’t. You made it personal.” Ashlyn stood up, strong. “Now I have to make it personal.”

Christopher spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground in front of him and narrowed his eyes at his sister.

“You think you’re better than us. You think that your actions are some self-righteous journey to what? Being human?” He laughed. “You got mom and dad killed. Both of them. Dead. And for what? For this? For her? And now you’re gonna kill me? You’ll never be human. You’re a monster. _You’re the fucking devil_.”

The words were like stones thrown down a well as they entered her mind. Empty. But sure to hit bottom at some point.

The truth of the matter was that Ashlyn had no idea what she was doing, everything she did, she acted on impulse. She never thought about the consequences or the repercussions. And that’s what made her so dangerous.

"Yes." Ashlyn said. "I am."

Ashlyn grabbed the sides of his face and Ali closed her eyes. The only sound there was to hear was the distinct snap of his neck and then a light thud as she let his body fall limp.

Ashlyn slowly rose to her feet and when she looked back at Ali, the darkness drained from her eyes.

They hadn’t broke eye contact since she stood up and as Ali looked into her eyes, she didn’t understand. They looked so soft. So…harmless.

“I could have handled that myself.” Ali said flatly, not quite yet offended. But she wasn’t even if she pretended to be. She knew Chris would have killed her but she doesn’t want Ashlyn to think she’s some weak thing, incapable of taking care of herself.

“Really? That’s all you have to say?!” Ashlyn furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes and advanced at Ali a few steps but stopped when she watched Ali push herself back further against the wall; afraid.

Ashlyn knew full well that Ali had a strength that she couldn’t yet access, but she also knew that she still had no idea what she was doing and no matter how tough she wanted to be, she was still so afraid of her…of herself even.

“Did you follow me?”” Her voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper.

“No, I followed him. I knew he going to find you and I knew what he would do when he did and I couldn’t-“

“Couldn’t what?” Ali cut her off. Her tone sounding annoyed.

The air between them was so thick that it distorted everything in their minds.

Ashlyn didn’t say anything. She simply reached out her arm.

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

“I can walk myself.”

“I doubt that. But my car is just over there so why make it awkward and walk seperatley.” Ashlyn tried. “Ali, come on.”

They walked in silence through the streets. They were so far apart that they might as well have been on opposite sides of the street. They were about a block away from her car when suddenly, Ashlyn started walking off course and began reaching for something in her back pocket. Ali said nothing, instead watched. It was a homeless man. He was asleep on one of the benches behind one of the hotels. She watched Ashlyn remove a one hundred dollar bill from her wallet and tuck it into his jacket.

“Do you make a habit of giving away your fortune?”

Ashlyn chuckled at Ali’s remark.

“I just think it looks like he could use it a lot more than me.”

“But how do you know what he’ll use it for? For all you know you could’ve just bought him his next bottle of booze or next high.”

“I don’t. I’m going off the chance that he uses it to have a decent meal or buy a decent jacket.”

“Yeah but that’s such a slim chance.”

“Do you make a habit of always being negative?”

Now it was Ali who laughed.

“Fair enough.”

Ali looked down at the man, he was fast asleep. He was dirty and matted, like a stray cat. HE moved in his sleep and as he did, he rolled his head to the far side, exposing his pale neck. And then something happened. She felt this weird rush of heat flood her face and the artery on his neck seemed to throb vigorously with each beat of his heart. When Ashlyn turned around and saw her staring stone faced, sweat dripping from her brow, she knew what was happening. Ali’s heart began to race and she could feel her feet going cold and soon, everything started to fade. Ashlyn reached but before she could get to her, she watched Ali fall to the ground unconscious.

Ashlyn gathered her in her arms and carried her back to her car, laying her lifeless body in the passenger seat.

\---

Hours later, Ali’s eyes finally started to open. She was cold. She moved her eyes about the room and had no idea where she was. The walls were bright white and all of the furniture and shelving were platinum silver metal and the bright lights from overhead casted blinding reflections on them. Slowly she sat up, releasing she was not restrained in any way.

“Easy.” She heard a voice say calmly. It was Ashlyn she saw come to her side.

“Where am I?” Ali’s suddenly felt as if she had been hit in the head with a baseball bat and brought her hand up to it, grimacing. “What the hell happened to me?”

“You just had a little accident.”

Ashlyn’s voice was level that it put her in this hypnotic state and she started to get images from the events of earlier. She was remembering. She can see the man lying on the ground. She sees his tattered clothes and filthy face. And she can see the pulsating movement from under the skin on his neck. She can practically feel it. Quickly, Ali spins off the side of the table and vomits, leaving a pool of blood on the pristine marble floor.

“What’s happening to me.”

“Your body is eating itself.” Ashlyn spoke softly. “You need to eat.” She walked over to one of the tall metal cabinets and inserted a key.

“You mean I need to feed.” Ali watched as Ashlyn turned around with a clear pouch in her hands. A blood donor pouch, filled to full capacity. “I can’t.”

“You will die, Ali.”

Ali looked at the bag and then slowly met Ashlyn’s eyes.

“Why do you even care what happens to me? You did this to me.” Ali watched Ashlyn’s jaw bone protrude slightly as she bit down hard, clenching her teeth; choking on the response she couldn’t speak. She set the bag on to table beside Ali and walked over to the other side of the room. “I heard what your brother said to you….about not wanting to be…….. _this_.” She watched her, but Ashlyn never budged. “Is that true?”

“Is it true that I want to be human? That I don’t want to be a monster?” Suddenly spoke and she faced Ali. “I didn’t choose this, Ali.”

“Neither did I.” Ali said sharply, cutting her off. Perhaps for the first time, Ali had a clear picture of this person standing before her, and for once, she wasn’t afraid. “Is that why you are the way you are  with me? Is that why you did that for the old man? You are no more a monster than I am.”

Ashlyn scoffed as she looked up at the ceiling.

“You don’t get it!” Ashlyn slammed her hands down onto the table and slowly started back towards Ali. “I’ve killed people. Innocent people…..I do very bad things. I do them very well. And I have done them for a very long time.” Ashlyn was resting on the table where Ali sat now. Her hair had fallen from it’s perfect shape and a few strands fell in front of her eye. She whispered, her words like smoke in damp air. “What have you done?....” Ashlyn spoke sharply, but painfully. “ _I’m the devil, Ali……”_

Ali’s breath caught in her throat and suddenly she felt as if she was suffocating, choking on her own discretion. Ashlyn’s pointed eyes peering up from beneath her pointed brows dug holes in every inch of her body. She wasn’t afraid. No. She was something much…much worse. She was hungry.

“ _So am I….”_

Ali pushed herself from the table and into Ashlyn, theirs bodies slamming in the cabinets behind them so forcefully that they dented them and you could hear all the glass vials inside shatter as they fell from their place. Their lips fed on each other as if they were drowning and they were the last bit of air in the room. Ali’s hands grabbed at the hem of Ashlyn’s shirt and she did not protest.

Ashlyn pushed Ali off of her and back against the table. They stood, feet apart for a few moments as they looked each other over. Like predators. As Ashlyn walked forward, bringing her shirt up over her head and tossing it, Ali blindly backed herself back up onto the table. Ashlyn crawled on top of her and pinned her wrists. Ali leaned up and Ashlyn lost every bit of control as she felt Ali’s tongue go all the way from her collarbone to her chin. She looked down at her just as Ali licked her lips.

“You should _not_ have done that….” Ashlyn breathed out just before burying her teeth into Ali’s neck.

Ali’s nails dug into Ashlyn’s back and never moved a muscle as they broke through the skin. Ashlyn slowly began to make her way down Ali’s torso to the waistline of her jeans. She looked up at Ali for a brief moment with nothing but the smuggest smirk on her lips.

Ashlyn hopped off the end of the table, grabbed hold of Ali’s jeans at the hip and yanked them down around her ankles in two swift tugs. She gripped just behind Ali’s knees and pulled her to the edge of the table. Ashlyn placed one leg on each side of Ali’s and she stepped forward, pressing her thigh into her. Ali’s muscles quickly tensed at the pressure and Ashlyn leaned over her body and grabbed the sides of the table, pulling herself forward and creating more pressure between Ali’s legs.

“ _please…_ ” Ali could barely speak.

Ashlyn pulled back and slowly lifted her leg over Ali’s so that she now stood perfectly between her legs. She bore all her weight down onto Ali’s thigh as she pressed her hands into them.

“What? What is it? You can tell me.” Ashlyn whispered in that low smooth voice. “Tell me what you want…” Ashlyn ghosted her hands down Ali’s ribcage and she could see the goosebumps appear on her skin. She found the hem of her underwear and grabbed them with both hands, pulling the band tight and biting it with her teeth. She tore them in half and moved each piece down Ali’s legs and out of the way. “Is this what you want?” Without warning, Ashlyn pressed her mouth to the point of pressure and Ali shot up from the table and then quickly lost herself as she her head fell back in pleasure. She screamed and clawed at Ashlyn’s shoulder and back, grasping onto what little reality she still felt. When Ashlyn felt the muscle’s inside Ali contact rhythmically and heard a last exasperated breath, she came up, wiping her mouth. She stepped in close, pulling Ali by the hips into her own. She rolled her hips against Ashlyn’s jeans, begging, without words, for more and Ashlyn couldn’t handle it. She got a knee up on the table and roughly shoved Ali further back on the table, making room for herself. She took ahold of Ali’s shirt and quickly brought it over her heard and threw it to the side before, grabbing each breast of her bra and ripping it apart, finally exposing the flawless and practically luminescent skin of Ali’s chest. Ashlyn reached over, and Ali watched her pick up the bag of blood she had placed there before. She bit the top of it off and let it spill into her mouth, then held it over Ali’s. As soon as it hit her tongue she could feel the chemicals inside her shift. Ashlyn moved the bag away from her mouth and continued to let it pour over Ali’s torso. Ali couldn’t wait any longer and she sat up and pressed her mouth into Ashlyn’s. The blood from their mouths smearing against each other. Ali bit down hard on Ashlyn’s lip and Ashlyn clasped her hand around her throat and licked the blood from her face. Ali watched her intently, never looking away from her mouth, as Ashlyn placed two of her fingers into her mouth before removing them and sliding them between Ali’s legs. Ali wrapped her legs tight around Ashlyn and threw her arm around her neck, still, never breaking eye contact until she felt them start to roll back into her head and everything began to fade.

 

 

 


End file.
